Interview with an Investor: Peter Wakeham, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WILink Plc.
By: Kate Opekar, Deputy Editor

Peter has held senior international marketing and general management positions at such blue chip multinationals as Mars Inc and PepsiCo Inc, and also has experience as an engagement manager with McKinsey & Company. In 1988, Peter was a founder member of the buy-out team which acquired Bricom, a business services conglomerate, from British and Commonwealth Holdings Plc. He then became Divisional Director, Business Services Europe for BET Plc until its acquisition by Rentokil-Initial Plc in 1996, after which he accepted the full-time role of CEO of WILink.com.

Ariadne Capital talks to Peter about his views on investing in and running a business.

Why did you decide to start investing?

I was looking for better long-term returns. But I have never taken a passive role as an investor – I prefer to be involved and active in a supportive way.

What would be your advice for people who are thinking about investing?

My first investment was in a company that was the leading analyst of pesticide residues. It was a great product, but the management team was made up of scientists with no business experience and who had little interest in commercialising their proposition. As a result, the business failed. So my advice is to look at both the product and the people very carefully. Most investors spend a lot of time on financial due diligence, not enough time on industry/competitive due diligence and almost no time on people due diligence. And if the success of the venture is heavily dependent on people who think that business is like “Dallas” – a few dinners and a gun shot ….well, guess what? It’s going to be tough for that company to succeed.

What do you look for in an entrepreneur?

I think it was Warren Buffet who once said about the managers he invests in, “I look for intelligence, vision and integrity, and of these, integrity is the most important, since without integrity, intelligence and vision are very dangerous qualities.” In my opinion, that just about sums it up.

How did the idea for WILink come about?

I first had the idea for the product in 1989. I was trying to get information about companies as a private investor and was amazed at how difficult it was to find even the most basic documents. With WILink, you can get the information you need without having to conduct search or contact the individual companies. From the companies’ perspective, our services, such as the Annual Reports Service (yes - the familiar “club”  alongside stock listings) gives quoted companies exceptional visibility at the place and time that investors are considering investment decisions. 

What was the main challenge you faced in setting up the business?

The biggest challenge was getting the start-up formula right - actually translating the idea into a profitable model. The key for WILink was  partnerships with leading media, which allowed us to get exposure without paying huge sums for it and also, ultimately, became a very important barrier to entry for other companies trying to do the same thing. We now are partners with over 200 major financial publications and web sites in North America and Europe, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Handelsblatt, Yahoo!Finance, Nasdaq.com, TSE.com and Edgar Online.

Forming partnerships seems to have been critical to your success.
Can you give any advice on this?

Yes: go for a genuinely win-win situation. This means striking a delicate balance in which “you need them as much as they need you”.  If you approach it with the mindset of trying to get the most for yourself, you’ll never be able to achieve this sort of balance, and the partnership will inevitably suffer as a result.

What does the future hold for WILink?

I am pretty happy with where we are today. We’ve grown from literally nothing to a company with £20 million market capitalisation – so I think we have come a long way. Our focus at the moment is to continue strengthening our current line of business, our investor relations and investment information services.

Throughout your career and in your role at WILink, you have spearheaded market entry strategies. What are your thoughts on how to expand a business?

First, make sure that you have a strong position in your core or domestic market before expanding into new markets or overseas markets. In my eyes, you need to gain “permission” to expand by proving yourself at home.

Second, don’t assume identical customer needs in different markets. Take the time to do the research and understand the customer. Often, it is a matter of taking the same product and customising the way in which the proposition is communicated to make it relevant.

Third, try as much as possible to maintain cost flexibility. Avoid the “fixed cost trap”: outsource where possible, particularly on facilities and non-core staff. Too many companies get carried away with the vision, but you have to think how to get to the final goal.

Lastly – something I learned through my own personal experience – beware investing in any company  where the top executives have already got the fancy car brochures on their desks!